Mad Men Discussion Thread

[MoneyNeverSleeps]

She's no more evil than Don. He's using Faye for business purposes. If Meghan is doing the same, so be it. Faye started out as a strong woman, someone who "didn't have to play their [the men's] games." She's becoming one of Don's typical women. I don't like her, anyway.

I don't think Don is using Faye, I think he likes her.

 

[trip]

The actress who plays Megan is, as the saying goes, "toofy" -- she has very prominent teeth that make her look kind of horsey in closeups.

I don't trust Megan as far as I can throw her. She had to know that "Kennedy" call was a prank that was coming in from only across town, and from a number that the switchboard could undoubtedly identify as a rival agency.


Looks like $50K means that Don and Pete are square now; the debt's been paid.

Robert Kennedy was a Senator from New York, so the call could have been a local call.

 

[NotUrsula]

Robert Kennedy was a Senator from New York, so the call could have been a local call.

Possibly. It was summer, so the Senate was in recess, but the odds of RFK being in NYC on any given day were probably no more than even. He didn't actually live in NY; the family residence was at Hickory Hill in Virginia. He rented a house on Long Island when he ran for Senate, so presumably if he had been calling locally, it would have been from there. His campaign residence was a hotel in Manhattan, but in a year when he wasn't running, I'd be surprised if he was maintaining that suite.

I suppose what my speculation comes down to is the question of whether or not the Time & Life Building had direct-dial phones by 1965. It was possible, but long-distance calls to businesses still normally came in via switchboard in the mid-60's.

 

[MoneyNeverSleeps]

Possibly. It was summer, so the Senate was in recess, but the odds of RFK being in NYC on any given day were probably no more than even. He didn't actually live in NY; the family residence was at Hickory Hill in Virginia. He rented a house on Long Island when he ran for Senate, so presumably if he had been calling locally, it would have been from there. His campaign residence was a hotel in Manhattan, but in a year when he wasn't running, I'd be surprised if he was maintaining that suite.

I suppose what my speculation comes down to is the question of whether or not the Time & Life Building had direct-dial phones by 1965. It was possible, but long-distance calls to businesses still normally came in via switchboard in the mid-60's.

I'm confused about the whole "Megan is a spy" thing. I haven't seen any evidence of that and I may end up eating crow later down the road but nothing about her has raised any suspicion thus far in my eyes. The phone call thing is a non-issue.. anyone could have made that mistake.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Who was the drug addicted artist and what is her background with Don?

 

[Cindy B]

Who was the drug addicted artist and what is her background with Don?

You need to watch season one... best season IMHO. That woman is Midge, who was pretty prominent in Season one, and was introduced in episode one.

In that episode, you assume Midge is Don's wife, by the way they are together doing things, etc. The shocker of the episode is the last minute when you see Don in bed with BETTY.. his actual wife and you know that Midge is (one of ) his mistresses.


Back in 1960 Midge was a greeting card artist. She was independent, pretty much hard drug free (she did some organic cigarettes later in the season). Midge and Don drifted apart once Don realized that 1) Midge was sleeping around with other men, 2) she got into the Bohemian "scene".

Midge was a tad eccentric, but interesting.


Another interesting woman that Don had an affair with in Season One was Rachel.. now if she comes back.. I'll be thrilled.

 

[gometros]

Another interesting woman that Don had an affair with in Season One was Rachel.. now if she comes back.. I'll be thrilled.

Maggie Siff, who played Rachel, can now be seen on Sons of Anarchy as Jack Teller's doctor love interest.

Interesting thing I picked up about Faye. I don't believe they specifically say so, but she must be Jewish, because she said something to Don about his "punim", which is an endearing Yiddish term for face. Even in New York in the 60s, Yiddish hadn't yet made it into mainstream vernacular.

 

[Mimi1965]

Great episode

Don sure chose his next wife awfully quick-she is SO good with the kids, The contrast between meagan and Betty is unreal

And kudos to the poster who guessed correctly-Joan kept the baby

 

[FloraFauna]

I felt so bad for Fay last night. But, she called it right--Don would be married again within a year.

 

[Cindy B]

So sad about Carla... she was everything to those kids. Betty is such a "witch".

We all knew that Joan was going to keep the baby. So now Peggy and Joan have something in common=although I don't think Joan knows this tidbit of information.

Let's start the divorce countdown clock for Henry.. you know he's thinking that Betty isn't what he bargained for.

As for Don, some guys just need to be married-have someone take care of them and dare I say, serve them. We all knew Don went for brunettes (Midge, Rachel, Allison, Megan) but to actually marry one? Amazing.

 

[LexiC123]

Amazing episode. I didn't think they'd be able to top last season's finale, but they did. Can't wait to see where they pick up all the story lines next season.

It was nice to see Don so happy. Loved the scene with the kids in the pool. And how he teased Megan with the Maria von Trapp reference after the sing-a-long with the kids...a timely reference seeing as The Sound of Music came out the year before. Megan did seem to bring out the best in him, but I never saw the proposal coming. I guess receiving Anna's ring planted the seed, but who knew he was so spontaneous.

Felt bad for Dr. Fay, as well...even though I never really cared for the two of them together. All I kept thinking was "Uh oh...she knows his secrets. And hell hath no fury, yada yada yada!"

And most of all, I loved the Disney connection in this episode. I paused the DVR for five minutes looking at the Disneyland map they had on the bed, trying to figure out if it was authentic, LOL.

 

[bfeller]

Just started watching Mad Men this past 5 weeks. Really good show

 

[gometros]

And most of all, I loved the Disney connection in this episode. I paused the DVR for five minutes looking at the Disneyland map they had on the bed, trying to figure out if it was authentic, LOL.

i was hoping they'd shoot a scene at Disneyland. I bet the Disney archives contributed that map. Mad Men is a stickler for accuracy.

Did anybody see that proposal coming? I know last we week, some people were thinking that Meagan had ulterior motives, but it was Don who approached the subject i was also glad that he didn't lie to the kids about the Dick and Anna scribble on the wall. True, it was a half truth, but he could have please ignorance all together.

 

[FloraFauna]

I was also hoping they would have shot a scene at Disneyland. That would have been great!

 

[Dee77]

I can't believe that they brought up the way Megan's teeth look... I wonder if she will have a transformation before the wedding... She looked much prettier in last night episode than previous one's where they did close ups.

I thought that when Joan got her promotion, as she walked out of the office with the mail cart that she looked like she was showing, but later when she was talking with Peggy, she looked the same as always. With so many references to how much time has gone by, I am surprised that she isn't showing more.

 

[Mimi1965]

Most telling were Meagan and the kids sitting on the bed singing the song for Don.
We have never seen Betty show any affection whatsoever to her kids or sing or read a book with them-nothing . Just "go watch tv" "Go to your room"

And when the milkshake gets spilled and meagan cheerfully wipes it up-while the kids cringe waiting to be yelled at-classic!

I cant wait for next season-wish we didnt have to wait SO LONG!!!

 

[NotUrsula]

Remember that Joan is making a concerted effort to confuse people as to her due date, and also remember that maternity girdles were still commonly worn in 1965. In her position I'm sure that Joan would be wearing one. We've never seen a pregnant employee at S-C or at SCDP -- it is entirely possible and even probable that company policy mandates the resignation of pregnant employees. Also, Roger is not likely to be pleased when he finds out that Joan didn't tell him about the change of plan, even though fooling Greg about it was originally his idea. (FYI: The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act was not passed until 1978.)

I'll admit that I may have been wrong about Megan, but we'll see; Weiner loves his bait-and-switch tactics, so it's just too soon to say for sure.
(At first I was thinking that Don had totally lost it and gotten too much sun or something, but now I'm wondering if he thought that inheriting the ring from Anna was some kind of "sign" that she wanted him to marry again ASAP. He can be weirdly superstitious about things like that, and since Megan was there and good with the kids, she would be the logical recipient of the moment.)

I had to rewatch the scene with Betty and Henry again; it was that good. I think that the scales are finally fully off, and I think he may even be reconsidering his earlier opinion of Don; and Henry is definitely beginning to worry about the welfare of the Draper kids. (I think that Betty is probably already regretting firing Carla -- she's too proud to admit that she screwed up.)

Faye has a temper, and she may yet extract revenge.

On the bright side: GO, PEGGY!!

 

[Dee77]

I agree that Joan is trying to confuse people about her pregnancy but I would think that by now she would have at least revealed it to the staff, I guess I didn't think about the discrimination part of it.

 

[AndreaDM]

So sad about Carla... she was everything to those kids. Betty is such a "witch".

That scene really reminded me of a book I just read, "The Help". It's set in the south in the 60's and nannies were routinely let go with no notice even though they'd been the ones to raise the kids for years, just heartbreaking.

 

[antmaril]

Most telling were Meagan and the kids sitting on the bed singing the song for Don.
We have never seen Betty show any affection whatsoever to her kids or sing or read a book with them-nothing . Just "go watch tv" "Go to your room"

And when the milkshake gets spilled and meagan cheerfully wipes it up-while the kids cringe waiting to be yelled at-classic!

I cant wait for next season-wish we didnt have to wait SO LONG!!!

I think that the milkshake scene is Don's "Aha" moment. This is when he decided to marry Megan.